Jerry Lee Lewis

===Sun Records===
[[File:Sun Studio, Memphis, TN (3636820842).jpg|left|thumb|[[Sun Records]] in [[Memphis, Tennessee]], where Lewis began his career and recorded many of his most famous singles]]
[[File:GreenbackDollar.ogg|right|thumb|[[Sun Records]] artist [[Ray Harris]] singing the song "Greenback Dollar", with Lewis playing the piano]]
In November 1956, Lewis traveled to [[Memphis, Tennessee]], to audition for [[Sun Records]]. Label owner [[Sam Phillips]] was in Florida, but producer and engineer [[Jack Clement]] recorded Lewis's rendition of [[Ray Price (musician)|Ray Price]]'s "[[Crazy Arms]]" and his own composition "[[End of the Road (Jerry Lee Lewis song)|End of the Road]]". In December 1956, Lewis began recording prolifically as a solo artist and as a [[session musician]] for other Sun artists, including [[Carl Perkins]] and [[Johnny Cash]]. His distinctive piano playing can be heard on many tracks recorded at Sun in late 1956 and early 1957, including Carl Perkins's "[[Matchbox (song)|Matchbox]]", "[[Your True Love]]", and "Put Your Cat Clothes On" and [[Billy Lee Riley]]'s "Flyin' Saucers Rock'n'Roll".

On December 4, 1956, [[Elvis Presley]] dropped in on Phillips to pay a social visit while Perkins was in the studio cutting new tracks with Lewis backing him on piano. Johnny Cash was also there watching Perkins. The four then started an impromptu [[jam session]] and Phillips left the tape running.<ref name=pc8 /> These recordings, almost half of which were gospel songs, were released on CD as ''[[Million Dollar Quartet]]''. Tracks also include Elvis Presley's "[[Don't Be Cruel]]" and "[[Paralyzed (Elvis Presley song)|Paralyzed]]", [[Chuck Berry]]'s "[[Brown Eyed Handsome Man]]", and [[Pat Boone]]'s "Don't Forbid Me".
[[File:Great Balls of Fire - You Win Again - Cash Box ad 1957.jpg|thumb|''[[Cashbox (magazine)|Cash Box]]'' advertisement, November 16, 1957]] 
Lewis's own singles (on which he was billed as "Jerry Lee Lewis And His Pumping Piano") advanced his career as a soloist during 1957, with hits such as "[[Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On]]", a [[Big Maybelle]] cover, and "[[Great Balls of Fire]]", his biggest hit, bringing him international fame and criticism of the songs, which prompted some radio stations to boycott them. In 2005, "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" was selected for permanent preservation in the [[National Recording Registry]] of the [[Library of Congress]]. According to several first-hand sources, including [[Johnny Cash]], Lewis, a devout Christian, was troubled by the sinful nature of his own material, which he believed was leading him and his audience to [[Hell]].<ref>Cash, Johnny (1997). ''[[Cash: The Autobiography]]''. p. 98.</ref> This aspect of Lewis's character was depicted in [[Waylon Payne]]'s portrayal of Lewis in the 2005 film ''[[Walk the Line]]'', based on Cash's autobiographies.

As part of his stage act, Lewis pounded the keys with his heel, kicked the [[piano bench]] aside and played standing, raking his hands up and down the keys, sat on the keyboard and stood on the piano. He told ''the [[Pop Chronicles]]'' that kicking over the bench originally happened by accident, but when it got a favorable response, he kept it in the act.<ref name="pc8">{{Gilliland |url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19756/m1/ |title=Show 8 – The All American Boy: Enter Elvis and the Rock-a-Billies. [Part 2] |show=8}}</ref> His inaugural television appearance, in which he demonstrated some of these moves, was on ''[[The Steve Allen Show]]'' on July 28, 1957, where he played "[[Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin On]]".<ref name="dvd-live50-60-70">'' Jerry Lee Lewis – Greatest Live Performances of the '50s, '60s and '70s'' – DVD, 2007.</ref><ref name="steve-allen-show">{{Cite web |date=June 24, 1956 |title=The Steve Allen Show – Episode Guide |url=http://www.tv.com/the-steve-allen-show/show/1465/episode_guide.html?season=2&tag=season_nav;previous |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081210210727/http://www.tv.com/the-steve-allen-show/show/1465/episode_guide.html?season=2&tag=season_nav%3Bprevious |archive-date=December 10, 2008 |access-date=July 11, 2015 |publisher=TV.com}}</ref>

His dynamic performance style can be seen in films such as ''[[High School Confidential (film)|High School Confidential]]'' (he sang the title song from the back of a [[flatbed truck]]), and ''[[Jamboree (1957 film)|Jamboree]]''. [[Cub Koda]] called him "rock & roll's first great wild man" and also "rock & roll's first great eclectic".<ref>{{Cite book |first1=Cub |last1=Koda |author-link=Cub Koda |editor-last=Bogdanov |editor-first=Vladimir |url=https://archive.org/details/allmusicguidedef00bogd |title=All Music Guide: The Definitive Guide to Popular Music |publisher=Backbeat Books |year=2001 |isbn=9780879306274 |location=San Francisco |page=[https://archive.org/details/allmusicguidedef00bogd/page/234 234] |url-access=registration}}</ref> Classical composer [[Michael Nyman]] has also cited Lewis's style as the progenitor of his own aesthetic.<ref>[[Andrew Ford (composer)|Andrew Ford]]. "Jerry Lee Lewis Plays Mozart". ''Composer to Composer'' London: Quartet Books, 1993. pp 192–195, p 194</ref>

In 1960, Phillips opened a new state-of-the-art studio at 639 Madison Avenue in Memphis,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sam Phillips: The Sound and Legacy of Sun Records |url=https://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2001/nov/phillips/011128.sam.phillips.html |access-date=September 13, 2014 |publisher=npr.org |archive-date=October 16, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141016031755/http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2001/nov/phillips/011128.sam.phillips.html |url-status=live }}</ref> abandoning the old Union Avenue studio where Phillips had recorded [[B.B. King]], [[Howlin' Wolf]], [[Elvis Presley]], [[Roy Orbison]], [[Carl Perkins]], Lewis, [[Johnny Cash]], and others, and also opened a studio in [[Nashville]]. It was at the latter studio that Lewis recorded his only major hit during this period, a rendition of [[Ray Charles]]'s "[[What'd I Say]]" in 1961. In Europe, other updated versions of "[[Sweet Little Sixteen]]" (September 1962 UK) and "[[Good Golly, Miss Molly]]" (March 1963) entered the [[hit parade]]. On popular EPs, "Hang Up My Rock and Roll Shoes", "I've Been Twistin{{'"}}, "Money", and "Hello Josephine" also became turntable hits, especially in nascent [[discothèque]]s. Another recording of Lewis playing an instrumental boogie arrangement of the [[Glenn Miller Orchestra]]'s "[[In the Mood]]" was issued on the [[Phillips International Records|Phillips International]] label under the pseudonym "The Hawk".<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 27, 2012 |title=Jerry Lee Lewis {{!}} Sun Record Company |url=https://www.sunrecords.com/artists/jerry-lee-lewis |access-date=March 22, 2021 |archive-date=February 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204174946/https://www.sunrecords.com/artists/jerry-lee-lewis |url-status=dead }}</ref>